Tanushree Shankar launches Astachal. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Across the ramparts of the fort, the Vindhyas range in the distance. As the sun spreads its parting rays across the Gwalior sky, bathing a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at a corner in orange, a group of boys in white sits at the foot of the statue, in silence.

This experience of daily meditation, followed by inspirational stories and a song or two, leaves its mark on every student who passes out of Scindia School. ?The place was called Astachal. That is the name we have chosen for our newsletter,? smiled Gopal Das Agarwal, class of 1988.

Saturday had a bunch of Scindia School alumni gathered at Calcutta Swimming Club. The Scindia Old Boys? Association (Soba) is about 200-strong in Calcutta. ?We have an equal number in the city who are not registered,? pointed out Tuhin Singhi, secretary of the Calcutta branch.

The occasion was special as Astachal was being relaunched. ?The newsletter had stopped after the school centenary issue in 1997. Perhaps we had lost steam after all the hard work,? laughed Lajpat Prasad, a member of the editorial team. In its revamped avatar, Astachal will have a national perspective. ?The newsletter will reach members of all our branches, from Nagpur to North America, Delhi to Dubai,? he added.

Memories were in full flow at the gathering. V.K. Sardana, the oldest among the old boys, had a small built when he was a student. ?On Founder?s Day and Mother?s Day, Her Highness (Madhav Rao Scindia?s mother Vijayaraje) used to come to the school. In deference to her purdah, seniors were asked to leave then. But I could stay on unnoticed,? he said, with a giggle. Sardana also saw Governor-general Lord Wavell and C.R. Rajagopalachari during their visits in 1945 and 1946 respectively. He reminisced how Natwar Singh, the current foreign minister and then his batchmate, would take the initiative in organisation on such occasions.

Madhav Rao Scindia himself was enthusiastic about the body. ?He was a minister when I went to invite him once to our meeting. I was anxious whether the venue was adequate for his security. He asked me if 200 of us felt secure there. ? ?So why are you bothering about me?? he asked, such was his humility,? said all India Soba president Rajnish Rai Kumar, adding that Scindians saw India?s future Prime Minister in him.

Dancer Tanushree Shankar, who launched the magazine, was there to represent Ananda Shankar, an ex-Scindian who had been conferred the Madhav Award (?a Bharat Ratna to us Scindians,? Singhi explained). ?Ananda was highly enthusiastic about Soba activities,? she said, glancing over page in the newsletter dedicated to her husband, a former city wing president.

The Soba does a lot other than bring out newsletters. ?We tie up with NGOs and adopt villages. The doctors in our ranks join the NGO members to hold health camps there. The expenditure is borne by us,? explained all India Soba president Rajnish Rai Kumar, who had flown over from Delhi. Members had come down from Kanpur, Guwahati and Mumbai as well ? all, in the Soba spirit.